The Distillery

The Distillery

At Virginia Distillery Company, our whiskies reflect the traditions of whisky-making combined with the influence of our home in the New World. We go beyond the norm with relentless dedication in delivering some of the finest, most distinguished whisky expressions available and nothing but.

The result will be Courage & Conviction, an extraordinary American Single Malt whisky, rooted in centuries of tradition and whisky making experience that also captures the essence of its newfound home here in the mountains of Virginia.

Our American Single Malt whisky, Courage & Conviction, is made using only the finest ingredients, starting with American two-row barley. Once the barley arrives, the grains take on a new character as it transforms into spirit. Such outstanding single malt whisky requires only the best and most authentic equipment that has been used for centuries. Our distilling equipment, including copper pot stills made by hand, was brought over from Scotland as well as our whisky-making expertise.

Once made, the spirit will age, using the influences of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains to draw out various flavor profiles. Aging in Bourbon, Sherry and Cuvée casks, our hot summers and cool winters create a unique maturation profile, as temperature and humidity vary day-by-day as well as season-by-season.

What results will be Courage & Conviction- an American Single Malt whisky that is distinctly original and 100% Virginian.

The barley is harvested and malted in the mid-west and shipped to Virginia, where it is stored in two 36-ton malt bins on site at Virginia Distillery Company. The malt is transferred from the bins to the 1920’s Boby Mill, to be milled.

The Boby Mill, one of a handful in the U.S. splits the grain into three parts and produces the grist, which is combined with water at varying temperatures to start the production of whisky. Yeast is added, producing “wash”, which is similar to an unhopped beer of approximately 8 % alcohol by volume.

The wash gets transferred to the first of two copper pot stills to begin distillation. Copper is used because of its ability to conduct heat and remove sulphur-based compounds. These compounds can lead to the whisky having an off-flavor so copper is critical in producing a quality spirit.

The copper pot stills are heated indirectly using a boiler and steam system to avoid contamination of the spirit. The shape and height of the still influence the flavors produced in the spirit. The longer the neck, the more refined the spirit.

The copper pot stills at Virginia Distillery Company come from Scotland and were handmade by a specialty fabricator. The spirit safe, which allows the distiller to make appropriate cuts between heads, hearts and tails, was created in Scotland in the style of a traditional spirit safe. After making its way through the distillation process, the finished spirit is casked and stored for aging, until it says “I’m ready”.